The Clash of Two Geniuses

What was life between van Gogh and Gauguin in the Yellow House really like and how did their incompatibilities in attitudes towards painting and life in effect have on the explosive arguments which inevitably caused the breakdown of van Gogh and his dream of a utopian Artists community?

19th October 1888, Provence, in the small town of Arles a major chapter in the history of modern art was about to unfurl. The sequence of events unfolded in 'The Yellow House' where Vincent's dream of an artist's community started and ended in little over two months - this was not just a studio, for van Gogh it was his home, it was a symbol. In Japan a yellow house is symbolic of friendship. This thought was probably in van Gogh's mind when he considered founding a school of painters in the yellow house at Arles - he had some knowledge of Japanese culture and art, and during the summer of 1888 he wrote that he had reached a high peak of yellow, presumably meaning that he had experienced a period of intense creativity. He compared himself to Monticelli who "did the south all in yellow, orange and sulphur colours" and considered that he was continuing Monticelli's work there. Indeed life in the yellow house was a deep contrast to this traditional symbolic meaning of friendship. His emotion is clearly seen in most of his paintings, which set the stage for the direction of a new style of painting called Expressionism. It is characterized by the use of symbols and a style that expresses the artist's inner feelings about his subject. During this period, living at Arles, he began to use the swirling brush strokes and intense yellows, greens, and blues associated with such typical works as Bedroom at Arles (1888, Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh), and Starry Night (1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York City), all this before Gauguin's eventual arrival. In his enthusiasm he eventually induced his fellow painter who he had singled out as the head of the studio of the south. Gauguin, not without reservation, decided to join van Gogh and believed they would be able to lead a communal life. Unwittingly both men's impact on art history would never be the same again.

So it started, "Theo has prepared the way, and I believe it could be possible for all the gifted artists in out group to manage in this way. . . If you could come here life would not be too difficult. I have gone into the question of money and we can live quite cheaply by doing what I intend to do from tomorrow onwards". This quote was taken from a letter from Gauguin to Bernard on his first few days of his stay in Arles. On first reading one would imagine it was possibly written by a dreamer, a leader, maybe even a reformer and in many ways you would be right. Another point you would gather is that this man gives the impression that these are his ideas and has plausibly worked them out, again while partly true; however this is the first sign of the character of Paul Gauguin. There was no mention or credit to whose ideas these where, whose vision or dream this was, but there is credit for the man who 'prepared' or financed the way and that was Theo van Gogh. In fact this quote echoes more than a passing resemblance of the themes in many letters Vincent van Gogh wrote to his brother and to Gauguin many months prior to when they formed their studio. I am not implying that Gauguin was taking credit for these ideas; in his memoirs he openly discusses van Gogh's dreams, more to the point however I am show how easily he succumbed to becoming head of this new studio and exaggeration of the role he played. At this time life could not be better for both artists, for Gauguin, he was being paid to live in Arles and this pay and cheap living would eventually subsidize his move to the tropics. For van Gogh, Gauguin was his choice to lead the new studio of the south, a figure that would show him how to paint and would bring amongst others fire, creativity and experience, Gauguin was the man to turn his dream into a reality. Indeed when Gauguin eventually arrived after months of persuasion van Gogh must have been elated. His vision was coming true and for the first time since moving to Arles he had a steady companion with a common compassion for art. Arles breathed life into van Gogh's very soul and he must have hoped that the same burning passion would be instilled in Gauguin as well. Of course it goes without saying that van Gogh had Gauguin placed on a pedestal, with all his hopes, aspirations and dreams funneled towards him and in having such high expectations the only way from his arrival could be down. It is with confidence that I can say that Gauguin arrived to Arles in very much the frame in mind that he was going to have a pupil, an imitator or disciple through van Gogh who would cement his very values in painting. After all the great masters had pupils who where trained to imitate and Gauguin very much believed he had found one too and van Gogh was all too willing to learn.

Gauguin's stay in Arles was in accommodation rented by van Gogh commonly referred to as 'The Yellow House'. Van Gogh rented four rooms on the right wing - two upstairs as bedrooms and two downstairs to act as a kitchen and studio. In preparation for his masters arrival van Gogh decorated Gauguin's bedroom with his now famous yellow sunflowers. In his memoirs Gauguin explained what happened on his arrival "the day was spent in getting me settled in, and a great deal of chatter, and a walk to show me the beauty of Arles and its girls - whom by the way, I could not get very enthusiastic about." So enthused with the coming of his master was van Gogh that on the second day, much to a bemused Gauguin, they set out to work early in the morning. "The following morning we set to work . . . where ever I am, I need an incubation period. . ." With an overenthusiastic van Gogh to contend with on arrival, Gauguin must also have been shocked, on entering the house he would probably have witnessed before him a lifestyle of chaos and disorder; Gauguin stated "First of all I was shocked by the complete and utter disorder everywhere. . ." It was clear van Gogh did not look after the house, let alone himself which has been well documented by many authors over the past 50 years and perhaps was one of the reasons why, after witnessing in a week Gauguin decided to bring order and instill some common practices and routines into their lives. This included cleaning, shopping, eating a regular meal each day, but also a daily ritual of visiting the brothels and long drinking sessions which in turn proved unbeknownst to him detrimental to his van Gogh's health. Within the first week van Gogh was certainly well acquainted with his Gauguin's ways. In a letter to Bernard he stated here we

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